Ed Recovery Jax

To many people, an eating disorder is simply a diet gone wrong, someone taking vanity too far, and that if they would ‘just eat’, everything would be great.

However, the reality is that eating disorders are a truly dangerous disease that can impact both men and women, and do not discriminate against age!

There are several different eating disorders that are officially recognized, but there are also others that people are also beginning to recognize. The main ones that you will primarily hear of are:



Anorexia Nervosa

This is a serious and potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss. The person struggling with anorexia may be abnormally sensitive of becoming fat, they fear losing control of what they eat, and use behaviors such as obsessive exercise, calorie and fat gram counting, starvation and restriction of food, diet pills, laxatives, or diuretics to attempt to control their weight.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

A person struggling with binge eating disorder, or compulsive overeating, goes on large binges where they consume an unusually large quantity of food in a short period of time. They eat uncontrollably, and until they are uncomfortably full. Typically, the weight of someone struggling with BED is above average or overweight, and unlike those struggling with bulimia, they do not purge following a binge and so struggle with maintaining average healthy weights.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating. Men and women who live with bulimia seek out binge and purge episodes; they will eat a large quantity of food in a relatively short period of time and then use behaviors such as taking laxatives or self-induced vomiting to get rid of the food they ate.

Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS)

Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (EDNOS) is found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV.  It is the category for people who do not meet the strict criteria for either Anorexia or Bulimia Nervosa, but who have significant concerns about eating and body image.

If you suspect you, or someone you know, has an eating disorder, some of the signs you may notice are listed below. Remember, eating disorders do not discriminate against men or women, or age, and this list is not exhaustive!

• Weight loss, often extreme thinness or a loss of excessive weight in a short amount of time
• Often will skip meals, making excuses that they already ate, or pushes food around on the plate. They are often a ‘picky’ eater who can appear to eat but in reality is not, or has strange eating habits such as cutting everything into small pieces, or eating the same thing every day.
• Preoccupation with food and calories - they constantly read food labels, and count calories all day long. Can probably tell you the latest diet, and knows all about diet and exercise
• An intense fear of being overweight drives someone with an eating disorder. Even though they may look extremely thin, they are constantly saying they are too fat, and become obsessed with the number on the scale, the size of clothes, and will obsess in front of a mirror
• Do you notice that someone disappears to the bathroom during a meal, or immediately afterwards? This could be a sign they are purging. You may also notice callous marks on their knuckles
• Baggy clothing is often worn to disguise severe weight loss, even during the hot summer months
• Females struggling with an eating disorder often have an irregular menstrual period or don’t have one at all
• Caffeine use becomes excessive, either soda or coffee. and often replaces meals
• Increased, and often excessive exercise
• Intolerance of cold, and will often be shivering, or have blue skin or fingers
• Skin and hair problems; skin will become pasty, while hair becomes thin and brittle and a fine hair growth shows on the face and body
• Swollen salivary glands can indicate purging, as well as broken blood vessels in the eyes
• Change of mood; where once they may have been socially active and loved hanging out with peers, someone struggling with an eating disorder often isolates from friends and family, and will avoid eating others wherever possible
• Also, changes of mood can lead to depression, anxiety, and increased obsessions and compulsions
• Perfectionism and low self-esteem drive the person, and they constantly feel like they are not good